The Art of Representation: Preparing Teams to Speak — and Act — for Each Other

There are situations in the life of every team when their work and views need to be represented by sending a team member to an external meeting. This may be a hierarchical situation where the team leader is required, or a matter of specialism where a subject matter expert needs to represent their colleagues. Either way it's imperative that the team trusts that their representative will effectively demonstrate the work and professionalism of the team. Equally it's important that the representative themself is given the message that the team trusts them in the role. The meeting may well happen away from the team, behind closed doors, so there can be no in-the-moment reinforcement of this trust relationship. It's something that is best developed in the safety of an experiential setting - but what's the best tool to address the issues of psychological safety involved?

At the simpler, shorter end of a range of possible interventions is Team Fusion . Importantly this rotates the representative role around the team so everybody experiences relying on that representative, and also being the one who is being relied upon, several times during the activity. There is a strong emphasis on making good decisions on behalf of the team, communicating these decisions and resultant actions, and basing these decisions on the learning derived from preceding colleagues. It's a very easy activity to administer, and the transfer of learning from activity, to debrief, to workplace implementation is direct and impactful. This makes it a great starting place for a facilitator taking early steps in using experiential tools, or line managers introducing something useful and engaging to team meetings.

At the other end of the range is T-trade which is one of the most powerful tools I know for looking at how different parts of an organisation need to operate in a co-ordinated manner when they are under severe operational pressure. In these situations each function needs to trust the others to make and communicate decisions that might have short-term negative impacts across the organisation e.g. if sales unexpectedly open up a new market it will require manufacturing to change what they are doing, or conversely, a shortage of components may need sales to rapidly shift their targets. In each of these cases the result may be uncomfortable, but positive outcomes will only be achieved if there is a bond of trust and common purpose across the functions. 

In both of these activities the underlying requirement is for every individual to be working towards relationship building - within and beyond team boundaries. Trust will only flourish in the psychological safety of good relationships, and this is not something that can be achieved through familiarity alone. It's far better to allow teams to explore and hopefully extend the limitations of their mutual trust, especially when they are relying on the quality of represention they receive from colleagues.